“Atlas of AI”, a book by Kate Crawford published by Yale University Press 2021 could equally be titled “The Geography and Political Economy of Artificial Intelligence”. It is one of the best, if not the best book devoted to AI. Its main value lies in its holistic approach, taking into account that Artificial Intelligence  is not the result of a neutral development of technology in the privacy of laboratories populated by scientists and engineers, but the result of a complex game in which the most important role belongs to capital and its holders, centers of political and non-political power, structures of violence and subjugation.

Kate Crawford explains her intention in an interview with Technology Review:

“I wanted […] to really understand how artificial intelligence is made in the broadest sense. This means looking at the natural resources that drive it, the energy that it consumes, the hidden labor all along the supply chain, and the vast amounts of data that are extracted from every platform and device that we use every day.”